The present invention relates to dispensing machines, and more particularly to a machine that can be actuated to dispense articles one at a time.
A variety of article dispensing machines are known, particularly in the form of vending machines commonly used to dispense cigarettes, food products, soap, novelties and the like. These machines are most often of the gravity feed type in which the articles are stacked in columns within vertical or inclined slots and a releasing mechanism selectively allows articles at the bottom to be dispensed when actuated by a solenoid or mechanical linkage. In the case of a vending machine, there is a provision for disabling the releasing mechanism until a predetermined quantity of coins has been inserted.
Dispensing machines are often used at widely scattered locations, where route men reload them and collect the money that has been deposited. Other such machines are grouped together in stores, where they are used in preference to conventional counter displays because they prevent theft and reduce the need for sales clerks, although this latter use has been less common.
However they may be deployed, dispensing machines should maximize the quantity of product stored in relation to the size of the machine to make optimum use of the available area and minimize the frequency with which reloading is necessary. Many presently known gravity feed machines utilize a relatively small portion of their total volume for the storage of products, and the inclined or vertical arrangement of the slots sometimes limits the variety of products that can be dispensed by a relatively tall machine that takes up a minimum of floor space. Another drawback of conventional gravity machines is that they often do not permit the article being dispensed to be viewed directly, and therefore require relatively complex provisions for signaling when the supply of an item has been exhausted. Moreover, purchasers may be reluctant to use a vending machine if they cannot view the particular article to be dispensed.
Some efforts to improve upon gravity feed dispensing machines have led to arrangements in which the articles to be dispensed are moved horizontally toward dispensing positions by conveyor belts. While these belt-type machines may permit the user to view the article to be dispensed, they are generally complex and often contain a relatively small amount of product in relation to their size.
Other previously known machines have arranged the articles to be dispensed in stationary horizontal troughs. The articles are inserted in the troughs from the front, pushing back a movable wall or bumper and thereby compressing a spring that feeds the articles toward the front of the trough as they are dispensed. In other such machines, springs have been attached at the front of the trough to pull the wall forward as the articles are dispensed. Regardless of which spring arrangement is used, if the articles are both loaded and dispensed from the front of the trough, an article placed in the machine first will remain there until the trough is completely empty. Where the freshness of the articles is important, as in the case of cigarettes or food products, it is particularly desirable that the articles inserted first be dispensed first, and the first-in - last-out arrangement of the front loading machines is unsatisfactory.
Another important disadvantage of previously known spring feed dispensing machines is that the spring force feeding the articles varies inversely with the number of articles remaining in the machine. If the spring is strong enough to smoothly feed articles to a releasing mechanism at the front of the trough when the machine is nearly empty, then it tends to crush the articles when almost full. The crushed articles are not only subject to possible damages, but due to their reduced width, are sometimes dispensed two at a time instead of one at a time when the machine is actuated.
The principal objectives of the present invention are to provide a dispensing machine of simple and relatively trouble free construction in which the articles to be dispensed are arranged in horizontal or substantially horizontal rows, and the articles are loaded in such a manner that they can be dispensed in the order in which they are inserted. Another principal objective is to provide such a machine in which the spring force by which articles are dispensed remains substantially constant regardless of the extent to which the machine is loaded.